Telephone wire winder



Allg- 3, 1940 E. FLANNELLY 2,211,561

TELEPHONE WIRE WINDER Filed June 26, 1939 INVENTOR ai, Wi i, ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 13, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT FFE@ TELEPHONE WIRE WINDIER Eugene Flannelly, New York, N. Y.

Application June 26, 1939, Serial No. 281,099

4 Claims.

This invention relates to neW and useful improvements in a telephone Wir-eY Winder.

The invention has for an object the construction of a Winder upon Which a telephone Wire may be placed in a manner so that When the Wire is pulled, the Winder leaves off one portion of the Wire and draWs in another portion of the Wire and when the Wire is released the reverse takes place. With a Winder constructed in this way the necessity of contacts, engaging each otherl and relatively movable, has been avoided.

The telephone Wire Winder in accordance with this invention is particularly useful for a Wire of a telephone transmitter and receiver. The `Winder Will continue to normally draw in the telephone Wire when the instrument is not being used and to pay it out as needed.

A still further object of this invention is to so construct the telephonel Wire Winder so that the Wire may be engaged thereon Without requiring the Wire of the telephone to be disconnected v from the telephone instrument.

Still further the invention proposes the construction of a Winder as mentioned which is simple and durable and Which may be manufactured and sold at a reasonable cost.

For further comprehension of the invention, .and of the objects and advantages thereof, reference Will be had to the following description and accompanying drawing, and to the appended claims in which the various novel features of the invention are more particularly set forth.

In the accompanying drawing forming a material part of this disclosure:

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of a telephone With a telephone Wire Winder mounted thereon .and constructed in accordance With this invention.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical sectional View of the Wire Winder.

Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical sectional vieW taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a vertical transverse sectional vieW taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is an elevational view looking in the `direction of the line 5 5 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is an elevational vieW similar to Fig. 5 but illustrating a modified form of the invention.

Fig. 'l is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line '1 -'I of Fig. 6.

The telephone Wire Winder in accordance With this invention includes a hollow casing I0 for attachment on the telephone body II of a telephone instrument having a receiver and transmitter I2. A drum I4 is rotative in the. casing I0 and is normally in a neutral position in the casing. This drum has a separator disc I5 dividing the same into tWo sections. The telephone cord I6 enters the casing II) through an opening I'I in the side of the casing and has several turns IISa Wound around one section of the drum then 5 `at the point I 5b; it extends through the separator disc `I5 and then it has a large number of turns I6 Wound around the other section of the drum but Wound in the direction opposite to the Winding of the turns IEE. The feW turns Iiia continue 10 into a portion of telephone Wire Which in the neutral position of the drum i4 is not Wound on anything. Thus, When the drum is rotated, as Will be hereinafter described, to unwind a certain number of turns I6@ a like number of`15 lThe casing IIJ is of cylindrical construction to accommodate the end discs Ilb. The casing Ill is provided With a cover II)a Which is hingedly mounted at one side by hinges 2t and Which `extends over and closes an opening 2l formed in the side of the casing Iii. The opening I8 specically is located in the cover I@a and is extended -30 inwards from one side of the cover. The opening I8 preferably extends longitudinally of the drum I4 and substantially the entire length of that section of the drum which is provided with the turns IGC. A latch 22 is cooperative With one 35 edge of the cover II)a and the material of the casing IIl adjacent this edge for holding the cover I lla closed When desired. The telephone cord I6 `may be secured to drum It by staple I 4C 0I the like. I 40 Resilient means is provided for returning the drum I4 to its neutral position When it is moved out of this position. This resilient means includes a spindle 23 coaxially connected With the drum and supported in a partition 24 mounted 45 transversely across the interior of the casing II). This spindle 23 is also supported on one of the end Walls I0 of the casing le Which is removably mounted in the cylindrical portion of the casing. A gear 25 is mounted upon the spindle 23 land meshes With a much larger gear 26 mounted upon a spindle 21. A spiral spring 28 is Wound around the spindle 2l and has one of its endsfixedly attached to the spindle and the other end xedly attached to one of a plurality of :sta- 55 tionary bars 29 mounted between the partition 24 and the end wall of the casing I0.

The operation of the device is as follows:

When the telephone instrument I2 is pulled off of the body I I, that portion of the wire I6 which is connected with the instrument will be pulled. This causes some of the turns IISc to unwind from the drum I4 depending upon how much of the wire is being pulled. As these turns unwind the drum Ill will be rotated, and winds up the spring 28. Simultaneously as the drum I4 rotates the other section of the wire I6 will wind itself upon the other section of the drum I4 adding to the turns |521. When the telephone instrument I2 is replaced upon the body II the spring 28 will return the drum I2 to its neutral position, rewinding the turns I6c and letting off the excess turns Ia. A feature of the invention resides in the fact that the telephone wire I6 is controlled without interfering with the passage of current through it. Particularly there is no need for contact brushes engaging contacts or other mechanism to maintain the circuit of the electric current.

In Figs. 6 and '7 a modified form of the telephone wire winder has been disclosed which distinguishes from the prior form in the fact that it is of a construction which will permit the telephone wire to be engaged thereon without the necessity of disengaging one end of the wire. According to this form of the invention the casing I0 has a section Ib which connects with the opening I'I. The section IIJb is hingedly supported by a hinge 30 on one side, and is releasably ixedly held at the other side by a manu ally operable catch 3|.

The casing I0 is also provided with another section IIlc which connects one end thereof with the opening 2|. This section IIIc is hingedly supported at one side by a hinge 32 and at the other side is releasably xedly held by a manual operable catch 33. The separator disc I5 is provided with a section I5a which extends from one side to the opening |51D through which the wire at the point I6la passes. The section I5a is supported on one side by hinges 34. At the other side the section I5a is provided with a manually releasable latch 35.

In other respects this form of the invention is identical to the prior form and identical parts may be recognized by the same reference numerals.

The telephone wire may be engaged upon and removed from the telephone wire winder in the following manner: To remove the wire from the Winder it is rst necessary that the section IIIb be opened so that the wire may pass through the opening I'I and may be slipped to position to extend from the opening 2|. Then the entire drum I4 together with the partition 24 and the end wall III is removed from the casing I0 by moving these parts towards the left. It is pointed out that the end wall I0 is rigidly connected with the partition 24 by the fastening elements 29. When the parts are moved from the end of the casing I0 it is necessary that the section IEIC be opened to permit the wire to slip through this portion of the casing. The drum I4 and the parts connected with the drumhave now been removed from the casing I0. The wire may be removed from the drum by unwinding the turns from the drum and by opening the separator disc section I5EL so that the wire may be slipped out filcm the opening and be free of the separator disc From this discussion of the way to remove the telephone wire from the Winder it is believed that the way to rewind the wire on the Winder will be quite clear and obvious.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to the precise constructions herein disclosed and the right is reserved to all changes and modifications coming within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent is:

1. In combination with a member having a stationary portion and removable element resting on said stationary portion, a hollow casing ixedly mounted on said stationary portion, a drum rotatively mounted in said casing and in a neutral position, a separator disc mounted on said drum dividing the same into two sections, and a continuous wire having one end attached to said stationary portion and its other end attached to said removable element, said wire having a portion extending from said stationary portion and entering said casing and wound several turns in one direction around one section of said drum, said wire having an intermediate portion continuing from said portion and extending through said separator disc, and said wire having a portion continuing from said intermediate portion and wound several turns in the opposite direction around the other section of said drum and extended from said casing to said removable element, whereby when said removable element is moved away from said stationary portion it causes that portion of said Wire which extends from said casing to be unwound from said drum and that portion of said wire which extends into said casing to be wound on said drum, said casing being provided with movable sections covering openings through which the Wire passes, and each of said sections being movable to a position to permit the wire to be moved through the openings.

2. In combination with a member having a stationary portion and removable element resting on said stationary portion, a hollow casing xedly mounted on said stationary portion, a drum rotatively mounted in said casing and in a neutral position, a separator disc mounted on said drum dividing the same into two sections, and a continuous wire having one end attached to said stationary portion and its other end attached to said removable element, said Wire having a portion extending from said stationary portion and entering said casing and wound several turns in one direction around one section of said drum, said wire having an intermediate portion continuing from said portion and extending through said separator disc, and said wire having a portion continuing from said intermediate portion and Wound several turns in the opposite direction around the other section of said drum and extended from said casing to said removable element, whereby when said removable element is moved away from said stationary portion it causes that portion of said wire which extends from said casing to be unwound from said drum and that portion of said wire which extends into said casing to be wound on said drum, said casing being provided with movable sections covering openings through which the wire passes, and each of said sections being movable to a position to permit the wire to be moved through the openings, and

each of said sections being movable to a position to restrict the removing of the wire.

3. In combination with a member having a stationary portion and removable element resting on said stationary portion, a hollow casing fixedly mounted on said stationary portion, a drum rotatively mounted in said casing and in a neutral position, a separator disc' mounted on said drum dividing the same into two sections, and a continuous wirevhaving one end attached to said stationary portion and its other end attached to said removable element, said wire having a portion extending from said stationary portion and entering said casing and wound several turns in one direction around one section of said drum, said wire having an intermediate portion continuing from said portion and extending through said separator disc, and said wire having a portion continuing from said intermediate portion and wound several turns in the opposite direction around the other section of said drum and extended from said casing to said removable element, whereby when said removable element is moved away from said stationary portion it causes that portion of said wire which extends from said casing to be unwound from said drum and that portion of said wire which extends into said casing to be wound on said drum, said casing being provided with movable sections covering openings through which the wire passes, and each of said sections being movable to a position to permit the wire to be moved through the openings, and each of said sections being movable to a position to restrict the removing of the wire, and means for holding said sections in a position in which they restrict the removing of said wire.

4. In combination with a member having a stationary portion and removable element resting on said stationary portion, a hollow casing xedly mounted on said stationary portion, a drum rotatively mounted in said casing and in a neutral position, a separator disc mounted on said drum dividing the same into two sections, and a continuous wire having one end attached to said stationary portion vand its other end attached to said removable element, said Wire having a portion extending from said stationary portion and entering said casing and wound several turns in one direction around one section of said drum, said wire having an intermediate portion continuing from said portion and extending through said separator disc, and said wire having a portion continuing from said intermediate portion and wound several turns in the opposite direction around the other section of said drum and extended from said casing to said removable element, whereby when said removable element is moved away from said stationary portion it causes that portion of said wire which extends from said casing to be unwound from said drum and that portion of said wire which extends into said casing to be wound on said drum, said casing being provided with movable sections covering openings through which the wire passes, and each of said sections being movable to a position to permit the Wire to be moved through the openings, said separator disc being also provided with a movable section openable to permit said wire to be slipped out from the separator disc', said drum being removable from said casing in a way to permit said wire to be removed from said casing without its removal from said drum.

EUGENE FLANNELLY. 

